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When Lauren Bayer, PA-C, began at BWH 21 years ago, she was one of only three physician assistants (PAs), a small group of medical professionals that held limited responsibilities at the hospital at that time. Today, more than 100 PAs are intimately involved in all aspects of patient care at BWH.
“We now have physician assistants in almost 20 sections and divisions throughout the hospital delivering the high-caliber care Brigham and Women’s is known for,” Chief Medical Officer Andy Whittemore, MD, said.
Last week, BWH honored PAs with a recognition dinner at Bravo restaurant in the Museum of Fine Arts. PAs from BWH and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute gathered with their supervising physicians, friends, guests and fellow BWHers for the event. One of the evening’s highlights was a video produced by Debra Leven, director of special projects and physician assistant services, illustrating the many roles and responsibilities of PAs.
PAs practice under the direction and license of supervising physicians and perform a wide range of functions. In Cardiac Surgery, for example, there are 11 PAs who assist in surgeries and provide coverage in the Cardiac Surgery ICU on Tower 8 and the step-down units, said Barry Shopnick, PA-C, chief PA for Cardiac Surgery. “We have a close working relationship with residents,” he said. “On the Pod, sometimes patients are a little confused as to who’s who, but they know they’re well cared for. They’re happy as long as we answer their questions and they feel cared for.”
Cheryl Arena was hired a little more than a year ago as the only physician assistant in Gynecologic Oncology. She writes discharge orders, communicates with local physicians for patient follow-ups, works closely with nurse practitioners at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and spends a lot of time with patients.
“I help maintain the continuity of care and act as the eyes and ears for our physicians,” she said.
Arena’s supervising physician, Ross Berkowitz, MD, director of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology, said PAs offer a continuity of care not possible through the resident system because of rotations.
“We have wonderful residents, but every six weeks, they change and each new group needs to be oriented to our standards of practice,” he said. “The consistency of having a physician assistant like Cheryl is invaluable.”
The responsibilities of PAs have grown tremendously since Bayer began at BWH. “We couldn’t even write orders in the chart,” she recalled. “We had to ask residents to write the orders for us. We also were very limited in what we could do regarding other patient care duties, but over time, we proved we are hard working, compassionate and responsible health care providers.”